The Federal Government says it will inaugurate its newly designed Economic Recovery Growth Plan in February to accelerate the pulling out of the nation’s economy out of recession.
Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo
The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said this at a Business Interaction Group, at the ongoing World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland.
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity , Mr Laolu Akande, quoted Osinbajo as saying that the president Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was confident about the recovery of the Nigerian economy.
Prof. Osinbajo said, “it is not difficult to get out of where we are if we understand why we are where we are.”
According to him, the Nigerian economy remains indisputably the biggest in Africa.
The Vice President said that the newly developed Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) was specifically designed to take the country out of the recession and, in the long term, continue to grow the economy.
He said the planning of the 2017 was based on the ERGP to accelerate speedy recovery and development of infrastructure.
Osinbajo, who also spoke at a panel discussion on “Building Africa”, alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame, said the empowerment of Nigerians was at the heart of the Social Investment Programmes of the Buhari administration.
He said already N500 billion had been budgeted for the smooth implementation of the Social Investment Programmes.
“It is about investment in people, in their skills, in youths, that we have a N500billion allocation in our budget last year and proposed for this year also.
“It is an investment in education and educating large numbers of people in a short time. It’s a radical thing to make that kind of serious investment in education,’’ he added.
He also cited the N-Power scheme’s training component for young graduates, and non graduates in artisan and industrial middle-level skills.
He also referred to the planned N100,000 supporting grants to students of higher institutions in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
According to the Vice President, the Buhari administration is committed to investing more in infrastructure by ensuring that 30 per cent of the budget goes into capital expenditure.
He also said the government was working on how to tap into Nigeria’s huge Pension Fund to finance infrastructure in the country.
